OutFoxed! The Battle for Lina Inverse!
by Dragonsdaughter
Summary: Zel and Lina gety dragged along on Gourry and Sylphiel's honeymoon. Lina suddenly finds herself re-teaching Zel magic but also forced to choose between him and an old nemesis as they compete for her affections!
1. Shop! Lina's Growth spurt!

Out Foxed! The Battle for Lina Inverse!  
***  
By the Dragon's Daughter  
***  
I don't like it when people cop off my original work without giving me credit so I won't do it here.  
I don't own Slayers, they're the creations of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi  
  
***  
Journal entry #456  
  
Moon phase- full-ish   
  
  
I, Lina Inverse, Dramatta Extrodinaire, Beautiful Magic Genius, and Sorceress Supreme am bored and plagued by well-meaning friends.  
  
Gourry got married a month ago to Sylphiel. Big surprise there, I was a Bridesmaid in the wedding; it was nice. I would have been best man, Gourry asked me to, but Sylphiel gently pointed out that the position was best 'man', so Zel got the job even though Gourry wanted to make the positions 'Best Person' and 'Bride's Boy'; Zel was surprisingly tolerant of the idea but Sylphiel put her foot down. (I'm still waiting for Armageddon. It's on it way now, I'm sure of it!)  
  
I ended up taking care of the ring in any case. Gourry's loyalties can be surprisingly potent. Luckily Zel thought the whole thing was funny as hell, I'm just glad he didn't take offense. Other than that, the wedding went off without a hitch... except for that one incident where a demon tried possess Sylphiel but Amelia, bless her little justice loving heart, must have expected it or something like it (I mean, think about who's wedding this was, I'm surprised Shabranigdo didn't try to crash the party!) Princess had so many white Priests hidden in the wedding party that they managed to exorcise it without even making Sylphiel stutter in her 'I do's.  
  
I wasn't thinking too hard about -after- the wedding, though. I assumed that Gourry would settle down in Neo-Sairaag with Syphiel and proceed to populate the area. Wishful thinking on my part. As it turns out, those two had a good long talk about it and, rather than let her Gourry-sama go back on his given word, Sylphiel has joined our little partnership... permanently.  
  
It's enough to make me want to pull my hair out.  
  
At first, Sylphiel was just tagging along to be with her 'Gourry-sama' (she still calls him that, enough though they're hitched!) That didn't last long though, after a few of our more... um... -savage- encounters she took up the calling. I'll admit, those were bad fights for her to see as an example of my lifestyle, but still, she's taken it a little far. So what if Gourry came through those fights without so much as a scratch and... okay, so I got a little banged up.  
  
Now I have -two- babysitters, one of whom I have to fight for food and the other who won't let me out of her sight after dark.  
  
L-sama! what did I do to deserve those two?  
  
***  
  
Sylphiel watched out of the corner of her eye as Lina furiously scribbled in that battered leather book she seemed to carry with her everywhere she went. It wasn't the first time she'd seem the petite sorceress venting some fustration in ink and vellum, but it was the first time she'd seen the book come out since the Wedding in Sailoon almost... yes, it was a month ago.  
  
Lina was sitting at a table in one of the darker corners of the Tavern where they were spending the evening. She'd made a bee-line for the corner as soon as she'd arranged for two inn rooms next door and hadn't stirred for nearly an hour.  
  
If she hadn't known that Lina had cast a spell on the journal Sylphiel would have worried about the younger girl ruining her eye sight in the dim light.  
  
She had never really understood how very reckless Lina Inverse could be with her health until she'd been travelling with Gourry-sama and their charge for a few weeks. They'd fought a war (a small one) single handedly in three days where Lina took a rock to the head and was out for hours. They'd also had to exterminate a nest of vampires, one of them bit Lina and they had to go through the entire cleansing ritual which should have been performed over the course of a week before nightfall as well as torch the vampire who bit her. Sylphiel had seen the tiny woman impaled, poisoned, strangled, and nearly maimed more times than she really cared to think about all in the course of five short weeks. She was now beginning to understand why Gourry was so devoted to protecting this one woman force of chaos.  
  
There was still an image of Lina laying in a growing pool of her own blood etched into Sylphiel's mind; the time when Lina had taken the brunt of a levin bolt meant for -her-. Surely there was no one more deserving of protection than Lina Inverse, she who spent her life trying to protect so many ... whether she admitted to doing so or not.  
  
In a fight, Lina was more than capable of taking care of herself. Sylphiel -had- learned quickly that if Lina couldn't look after herself during battle than she was better served by being backed up rather than being sheilded.  
  
Sylphiel's train of thought broke when Lina abruptly snapped the journal shut and stuffed it into one of the hidden pockets in her cloak. She swivelled around in her seat scanning the room with her eyes until her gaze passed over Sylphiel. An ironic grin tugged at her lips and she came over to sit at Sylphiel's table.  
  
"So where is the Sword-slinger Sumpreme?" Lina drawled as she surveyed the empty chair beside Sylphiel and dropped her tiny frame into it.  
  
"I think he's at the Bakery down the street. He said he wanted to look at their sugared rolls." Sylphiel hazarded, actually that had been an hour ago. It was entirely possible that her husband had gotten distracted on the way to the Bakery and had forgotten his earlier errand. Ceiphied only knew where he was by now.  
  
By the muscle twitch at the corner of Lina's pert mouth, she was obviously entertaining similar thoughts but she showed admirable restraint and didn't voice them. "Did he leave you here to keep an eye on me?" she asked instead.  
  
"No." Sylphiel demurred. Lina relaxed a little but the tension reterned in fold when Sylphiel continued her thought. "I volunteered, Gourry-sama was so interested in seeing if they had glazed strawberries at that shop that I couldn't make him stay even though it is his turn..."  
  
Lina's eyes drifted shut and she reached up to massage the spot between her eyes with gloved fingers. "You take turns now?"  
  
"When we both have errands to do, Yes." Sylphiel answered cheerfully.  
  
"Of course..." Lina looked towards the bar and sighed. "Does this mean you have something you need to be doing?"  
  
The shrine-maiden blushed. "Well... Gourry got a little eager last night and he tore one of my tunics badly enough that the cloth won't hold a mend. I need to go get some cloth or perhaps a new one if I see something I like."  
  
Lina barked out a short, coarse laugh. "I see!" she chuckled a bit more. "Why not? Let's go together? I need a new tunic myself, and some new tights."  
  
Sylphiel blinked and her eyes flew unwittingly down to where Lina's cape parted to reveal her vibrant costume. Her seamstress's eyes immediately noted how the yellow cloth was beginning to strain across Lina's chest and the hem of the red tunic didn't reach down to cover the bottom of the yellow leotard she wore underneath.  
  
"Oh my! Lina, your clothes barely fit at all!" Sylphiel cried out.  
  
Lina chuckled nastily. "Heh, my long delayed growth spurt is finally arrived!"  
  
"Get up!" Sylphiel ordered and circled Lina when she complied. "Oh this won't do at all!" she murmured to herself as she pushed Lina's cloak aside to look at the other pieces of the smaller woman's attire. "We'll have to replace your entire costume!"  
  
"Oh well." Lina shrugged philosophically. "I suppose I outgrew the look anyway. It was fine when I was fifteen."  
  
"You're nineteen now." Sylphiel pointed out. "and speaking of your age..."  
  
Lina held up her hands in mock surrender and backed away. "Now, Syl! Don't start that up again!"  
  
"I just want to see you happy..." she started.  
  
Lina shook her head. "It's just newly wed bliss, Syl-chan. You're young, in love, and married to the guy of your dreams and you want everyone to feel the same way. Besides, if..." she paused and gave Sylphiel a signifigant look. " -if- I do some poor slob the ultimate favor and spend the rest of my life with him, it will be because I want to, not because I was getting a little long in the tooth."  
  
The shrine-maiden blushed. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that but..."  
  
"It amounts to the same thing, but I'm in no danger of becoming an old maid." Lina shook the wrinkles out of her cloak and shot her friend a quirky grin. "Let's go, Gourry shouldn't take too long and we're leaving for Atlas City first thing in the morning!"  
  
Sylphiel opened her mouth to say something in return, perhaps to ask Lina if maybe she'd consider a costume in autumn colors but Gourry chose that moment to kick open the tavern door and bellow her name.  
  
The two soceress immediately snapped to attention as they registered the fact that Gourry had a man slung over his shoulder.  
  
"Put him on the table!" Lina ordered. Sylphiel rushed to check the man's pulse and the extent of damage done to him.  
  
"I found him in the town square!" Gourry panted as he lay the man down on his back. "He was floating face down in the fountain."  
  
Sylphiel immediately went about her business and Lina pulled Gourry aside. "Did you see what happened to him?" she asked quietly but Gourry shook his head.  
  
"Uh-uh, but people were just walking by ignoring him. He coughed up a bunch of water when I fished him out." the confused sowrdsman explained. "Some jerk in a green cape tried to stop me when I was pulling him out but I knocked him out and brought..."  
  
"Sweet light!" Sylphiel cried out. "It's Sir Zelgadis!"  
  
Lina sucked in air. "No!" she whirled on the shrine-maiden, who had just pulled the disguising cowl away from the half-drowned Chimera. "Zel!" Lina said urgently to the soaked man laying on the table.  
  
He was breathing shallowly, but showed no signs of waking.  
  
"Syl?" Gourry asked his wife. "Is he okay?"  
  
Sylphiel made a concerned face. "Well, he's breathing and that's good. He may have passed out from air deprivation but I don't..." she murmured a quick spell and green light gathered around her hands. She held them out over Zelgadis and he began to glow as well. After a few seconds the glow vanished and Sylphiel smiled. "He's all right, he took a blow to the back of his head but it only knocked him out. There's no brain damage and Gourry-sama got all of the water out of his lungs. He should wake up in a few hours... but we should get him out of those wet things otherwise he'll take a chill."  
  
"Stone can get sick?" Gourry asked densely.  
  
Sylphiel chuckled a little. "He's not really stone, you know. I don't know what he's made of but it's a subtance rather like flesh for it can move and heal itself."  
  
Lina cocked her head. "I wonder if he's ever let anyone do an in depth study on his body before. It could really help his search out, I know he didn't do it himself..."  
  
"Why not?" Gourry asked before Syulphiel could shush him.  
  
"A magical examination doesn't work that way." Sylphiel explained. "It's just one of those basic laws of magic, like how stones don't fall up and fish don't fly."  
  
Gourry scratched the back of his head. "I don't get that at all!"  
  
"Most people don't, it's advanced theory of magic." Lina said absently. "Most sorcerers don't question -how- they can do something, it is merely enough that they can."  
  
"Oh." Gourry said in that tone that meant 'I don't really understand but I'm willing to let it go,see I've already forgotten my question!' "Uh, should we move him into one of the rooms we rented for the night?"  
  
Lina nodded. "He can have my room. I'm sure he'll wake up in time to get his... own..." she trailed off and suddenly began rifling through the unconscious chimera's pockets.  
  
"Lina-sama!" Sylphiel cried, scandalized.  
  
"I'm not robbing him." Lina hissed. She made a face and ceased her action. "He doesn't even have a dagger on him. He already was robbed!" she pointed to the empty sword belt that his waist. "See, Astral Vine is gone."  
  
Gourry winced. "Eww... he's not gonna be happy when he comes to."  
  
Lina nodded. "We'll have to make a stop at a 'bank' on the way to Atlas City if he wants to come with us. Oh well, let's not worry about that now. Gourry? do you think you can carry him to the Inn?"  
  
The blonde man made a face. "Yeah."  
  
Sylphiel was immediately all sympathy. "Don't worrry, Darling. You can rest afterwards while Lina and I take care of our errands."  
  
Gourry perked up a little. "In that case, can you girls stop by that Bakery and get me some sugar rolls? I got lost on the way..." 


	2. Shock! Zel's Apprenticeship?

Half and hour later, Gourry was safely ensconced in a soft chair beside Zelgadis's bed side. The Chimera himself was dried off and changed into a set of complimentary pajamas provided by the inn keeper.  
  
In deference to the sunny weather, Lina left her armor and cloak at the inn and carried her money in a belt pouch. Sylphiel had changed into a spare set of trousers and tunic that were easier to get in and out of than her normal clothes and were also much cooler.  
  
"Oh, Lina-sama! Look over there!"  
  
Lina sighed and looked in the indicated direction. Sylphiel had spotted a clothes merchant who displayed, among other things, a lovely rust colored blouse. The dark-mage paused to look at the blouse, it was loose and looked to be about her size. The color would compliment her hair and eyes and if she went through another growth spurt the strain wouldn't show so soon and so badly as her normal tunic.  
  
"Nice." she agreed.  
  
Sylphiel beamed. "I saw a leather lace-up vest a few stalls back that would look wonderful with it too!"  
  
Lina hummed to herself thoughtfully. "I'd have to get new trousers and boots to match, not to mention gloves." she stalled.  
  
"You'd have to do that anyway!" Sylphiel urged.  
  
As it turned out, Sylphiel talked Lina into the blouse and the vest as well as a matching set of trousers that the vest merchant had and a pair of black half boots.  
And so, bedecked in her new, and vastly more comfortable, garb (having done away with her old clothes that no longer fit) Lina dragged Sylphiel to a Swordsmith.  
  
"... but Lina! Won't Zelgadis-san want to pick out his own sword?" she protested.  
  
"Not unless he has to buy a new one." Lina said firmly. "If we're lucky, he won't have to."  
  
An iron bell clanged as Lina dragged Sylphiel into the area of the forge where customers were seen to. There was a scruffy old man lounging at the counter, he came slowly to attention at the sound of the bell.  
  
He was an older man, anywhere from forty to fifty, and made older by the rigors of his work. His black hair was still thick but receding at the brow and laced with shots of silver. He watched them approach with keen blue eyes the shade of a summer morning.  
  
"How may I help you two ladies?" he asked in a gentle baritone. "I'm Aiden Corbin, the Master Smith."  
  
"Lina Inverse and I'm looking for a sword."  
  
The smith whistled appreciatively and looked Lina over again, this time with more interest. "The dramatta? I thought you would be taller."  
  
Lina rolled hereyes and let the jibe pass. "Can you help me?"  
  
Aiden braced him elbows on the counter, laced his fingers together, and set his chin down on them. "That depends, what kind of sword would this be?"  
  
"A stolen one." Lina said shortly and Aiden's eyes went chill.  
  
"I hope you aren't suggesting that I fence stolen goods. This forge is only for custom work." he said in a curiously bland tone.  
  
"My mistake." Lina said in a flippant tone. "I must have seen the Theives Guild mark on your sign and thought..."  
  
Aiden's mouth quirked. "I'm an artisan, little ember." he chuckled. "I copy keys and make duplicates of certain... artifacts. I'm not in the re-distribution or borrowing guilds."  
  
"Then maybe you could do something else." Lina suggested. "Something that I would make worth your while."  
  
"And that would be..."  
  
Lina smiled. "The Black Fox, the one who operates in Dimston. If you could send him a message saying that Lina Inverse is in Canturbury and in need of his... expertise?"  
  
Aiden whistled. "You do know some people don't you? What exactly is this sword? The Sword of Light?"  
  
Lina shook her head. "No, it's called Astral Vine, it was forged by Rezo the Red and belongs to a friend of mine. We found him floating in the town square fountain and relieved of all his possessions. I want to get what things of his back that I can before he comes to."  
  
Aiden frowned and nodded. "I see. I'll have my boys look around town for it and if nothing shows up I'll send word to you and relay your message to Black Fox."  
  
"If you could I would be most grateful." Lina reached for her belt pouch but Aisen shook his head. "No. This is on the house. I have a boy going the Fox's way anyway. You'll know by tonight."  
  
"Thanks." Lina grinned at him. "While I'm here, do you have anything in my size?"  
  
***  
  
Zelgadis was awake when Lina and Sylphiel returned to relieve Gourry from the bedside watch. He was sitting up in bed with a tray on his lap and was wolfing down large amounts of the thick savory stew served up by the inn's kitchen.  
  
"Wow, Zel!" Lina mused as she stuck her head in the door. "When was the last time you ate?"  
  
Zelgadis looked to the sound of her voice. "You're here too, Lina?" he nodded his head at Gourry's peacefully slumbering form. "When I woke up to find him watching me, I thought I'd accidentally caught He and Sylphiel on their honeymoon."  
  
Lina chuckled. "You did, they just refuse to let me out of their sight so I got dragged along. We're going to the Hot Springs at Mipross with a stop in Atlas city to see the Royal Menagerie." she pushed the door all the way open and entered.  
  
Zelgadis gave an appraciative whistle as he got a look at her new ensemble. "Very nice." he looked her over critically. "You've grown three inches and not all of that up."  
  
Lina made a face at him and shook Gourry awake.  
  
"Huh!" the man's hand flew to his sword before he realized it was jsut Lina. "Oh, you girls are back?"  
  
"Mmhmm." Lina nodded. "Sylphiel's in your room, she wants your opinion on her new tunic and she has those sugar rolls you wanted."  
  
"Oh... okay!" Gourry leapt to his feet with the agility of youth and went off to see his wife's new shirt... and probably take it right off again.  
  
Lina shook her head disparagingly and claimed Gourry's seat by the bed. "Go ahead, eat." she made shooing motions with her hands. "Don't let me stop you."  
  
Zelgadis returned to his meal and cleaned his plate before continuiong the conversation.  
  
"Wow!" Lina murmured as Zelgadis wiped up the last bit of gravy from the bottom of the second bowl with a peice of bread. "I was kidding when I asked you how long it was since you ate."  
  
"Two weeks." Zelgadis replied gruffly. "Three weeks since I ate anything I care to remember." he shuddered. "Four since my last cup of coffee."  
  
Lina frowned. "Are you in trouble?"  
  
The chimera snorted. "Yes. You found me unconscious in a public fountain, robbed, and starving." he sighed. "If you must know, I got lost in the Mountains looking for a Shrine that is supposed to grant wishes."  
  
She winced. "Did you find it?"  
  
"Yes." he growled. "It only grants wishes for wealth."  
  
"Ouch, I suppose you just got into town?" she hazarded.  
  
Zelgadis nodded again. "I can hear you thinking it. Yes, that's when I got knocked out I was already weakened enough that it put me out." he glanced at his pajamas. "Did they take my clothes too?"  
  
"Nope." Lina said shortly. "They're out back drying. They did get your money, your dagger, and Astral Vine."  
  
Zelgadis winced. "Astral Vine? I can replace money and daggers but not that sword."  
  
Lina grinned. "Don't worry, I talked to some members of the Theives Guild and they're looking for it, if they can't then they're passing the information onto a friend of mine who should."  
  
Zelgadis blushed. "You don't have to..."  
  
The young woman laughed. "Zel! Don't think I haven't seen you sleep with that thing like it was a security blanket! I know it means a lot to you and if we can find the sword then we can probably find the jerks who attacked you."  
  
Zelgadis grinned nastily. "Revenge sounds good to me."  
  
"I thought it would." she paused and then leaned forward. "Hey Zel, when was the last time you have yourself examined. To find out what you could about your body?"  
  
Zelgadis blinked. "Examined? What do you mean?"  
  
Lina shrugged. "Exactly what I'm saying, have you ever had another mage take a look at your body to see how Rezo made you the way you are?"  
  
He blinked again... once... twice. "Would that help me find the cure?"  
  
Lina choked. "You mean... never!?"  
  
He shook his head. "I wasn't aware it was possible."  
  
***  
  
Journal entry #457  
  
Moon Phase- full  
  
I knew it!  
  
The apocalypse is coming! All the signs are here! Sylphiel shouted at Gourry and now it turns out that Zelgadis's knowledge of practical magic is so full of holes it could win a swiss cheese beauty contest!  
  
I can't see how I could have overlooked it though, he's always seemed so... learned? Dependable? Smart? Studied? Oh hell, but now that I think about it I see that his knowledge of the arcane is restricted to battle magic!  
  
It turns out Rezo taught him everything he knows, and it's not much let me tell you! Zel's pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and refuses to apprentice himself to another mage to fill in the gaps.  
  
I quote 'It could take years, Lina! I haven't got years! I won't spend a second longer in this body than I have to!'  
  
Sylphiel and I pow-wowed and we agreed that since I had the most knowledge od Shamanisim, Zel's specialty, I would teach him everything I know... starting from the ground up. Zel's agreed to travel with us, but he's being awfully pissy about it.  
  
Aiden's head apprentice came by with Zel's sword, apparently some joker came by and wanted it melted down. That I don't understand, as a sword Astral Vine is worth way more than the cost of the metal put in it. Zel even let me check it out in case it was made from Orihalcon or something (it's just plain steel and brass). I even looked at the stone in the hilt, the only thing I discovered was that the spell that makes Astral Vine special is stored in there, no biggie.  
  
I'm not going to think too hard on that, though. There are too many possible explanations that I just don't want to deal with. I paid Aiden enough that he could melt down some scrap steel and buy some smelted bonze to give the guy, I even got him a stone to match the one in Astral Vine's hilt. That ought to cover our bases.  
  
It was worth it, though. Zel was real glad to have his sword back, I guess he has some sentimental attachments to it (can't imagine why, he hated Rezo's guts after all) At least now he has something other than the clothes on his back.  
  
We've decided to stay an extra day in Canturbury so Zel can replace everything he lost. We haven't found the a-holes who did this to him, Aiden never saw the guy who brought the sword to be melted down and his apprentice didn't look too close. It's only a matter of time. Their days are numbered.  
  
***  
  
"Gee, Zel. You need to shave?" Lina asked as Zelgadis pored over a shiny selection of shaving kits.  
  
"Yes..." Zelgadis murmured as he inspected a dark brown case. "In the mornings my skin gets soft when the hairs push their way through my skin and when they're new they're soft." He indicated a nick on his cheek. "I can even cut myself. After a few hours the hairs harden until they're like the hair on my head and then I'd have to soak them until they softened up again."  
  
"Wow." Lina whistled. "Complicated."  
  
He snorted. "You have no idea. What do you think of this one?"  
  
Lina peered down at the kit in his hands. "Is the blade honeable? Sometimes they aren't."  
  
Zelgadis checked. "Yes, it comes with a mirror enchanted against breakage as well as a whetstone, a block of soap, and a brush."  
  
"That one is... wow, two silvers. Get it!" she grinned. "that's a steal! Wow, that's cool..." she turned away to look at something.  
  
Zelgadis gave miniscule sigh and watched her out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to examine the shave kit. Her new costume flattered her, the rusty reds and blacks brought out the dazzling fire in her hair and made her eyes dark as crushed rose petals. He especially like the way her black vest laced tightly around her pert figure and the tails of her blouse gave the suggestion of a nice skirt.  
  
The sorceress didn't often wear feminine clothes and Zelgadis found he mourned it. Something about her delicate frame and tiny body coupled with her explosive temper made her the ideal woman (to his mind at least).  
  
His attraction to Lina wasn't something Zelgadis had liked to dwell upon before now, especially when Lina and Gourry had shown every sign of evolving into the Perfect Couple.  
  
"Zel, check this out!" she thrust a leather bound book into his face.  
  
He accepted it and flipped through the pages. They were all blank except for some faint lines inscribed onto the vellum. "What is it... a journal?"  
  
Lina shook her head. "No it's an apprentices note book. It's got a spell on it so that you never run out of pages until you graduate to journeyman status. The inside doesn't matter, what do you think of the outside?"  
  
Zelgadis looked at it dubiously, "It's nice." it was bound in dark brown leather woth antiqued brass bindings at the corners. A smile touched his face. "Let me guess..."  
  
Lina grinned. "Yes, get it if you like the cover. You're going to need it."  
  
***  
  
There would come a time in the near future when Zelgadis would look back on that leisurely shopping trip with longing, before Lina threw herself into teaching him magic from the ground up.  
  
What no one in the group had been aware of was that while Gourry and Sylphiel had been planning their wedding Lina had done a short stint as a Professer in the Spell Academy where she'd learned magic. In addition to her monikers of 'Dramatta' and 'Bandit Slayer' she was also 'Shabrinigdo on a Podium' and the 'Lord of Nightmares Incarnate' (of course her one-time students had no idea how very accurate that last one had been)  
  
What Zelgadis would never be aware of until he too visited that academy was how very easy Lina had been going on him compared to what she had put her other students through.  
  
***  
  
"Recite for me the five elemental summonings one more time." Lina instructed the unhappy chimera between bites of her dinner, which took up half the table on it's own.  
  
Zelgadis frowned thoughtfully and paused his own meal, which took up the other half (he was still trying to regain lost calories) "East Winds that blow have you as their source, into my hand ignite all their force." he said slowly.  
  
"Right, and who is it you're summoning?" Lina interuppted.  
  
"Aereal, the Royal Falcon who lives in the deserts." Zelgadis replied.  
  
Lina nodded. "Good, continue and keep telling me who you're talking about."  
  
Zegadis scratched the back of his head and took another bite of some vegetable dish he couldn't really put a name to. "Crimson fire bruning bright, come into my hands and become and inferno. That would be Darastrix, the dragon who lives in the bottom of the Ircilan Volcano in the southern tropical islands."  
  
Lina nodded again. "Very good, west?"  
  
Zelgadis grinned. "You who sail between Earth and Sky, raging water lend me your strength. That would be Leviathan, dweller in the deep seas. Then, You whose heart beat holds life close, gift me with your benevolence and guard me. That's Gaea, the Serpent coiled around the staff thrust into our world. North would be, Saphire flames engulf me, imbue your wisdom at my command."  
  
Lina smiled her approval. "And who would that be?"  
  
"That is the Hermit dwelling on the summit of the Mountain of Tears, Golgothan." Zelgadis relied and took an bite out of his chicken dinner in triumph.  
  
"Not bad, you pick this up quicker than my other students." Lina took a swallow of peppermint tea and looked around the restaurant. "You seen Gourry and Sylphiel today?"  
  
"I saw them going upstairs." Zelgadis demurred and Lina blushed.  
  
"Oh." she said. "Nevermind then... they -are- newly weds."  
  
A busty waitress approched the table Lina and Zelgadis shared. She carried a carafe of hot tea. "Would either of you care for a fresh pot?"  
  
Lina was the only person at the table drinking tea, Zelgadis had coffee. The sorceress shook her head. "No, mine's fine."  
  
"A refill would be nice." Zelgdis nodded to his coffee cup, which was drained.  
  
The waitress nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Lina watched her go.  
  
"She looks familiar..." she murmured then shrugged. "Oh well."  
  
Zelgadis looked in the direction the waitress had left in. "Don't you have a sister who..."  
  
"NO!" Lina shouted then blushed when people in the restaurant turned around to stare. "Er... sorry!" she leaned over the table to whisper. "That wasn't Luna. She works in the First Watch in Sailoon."  
  
"You mean that restaurant that you won't go near?" Zelgadis asked hesitantly. He rememebred the one and only time Amelia had recommened it (for it's takoyaki) Lina had turned such a deathly white that even Xellos had been worried.  
  
He didn't finish the thiought for the waitress chose that moment to reappear.  
  
"Your coffee, sir." she said in clipped tones. "Please... enjoy." she bowed to Lina and took off.  
  
"I know I've seen her before..." Lina repeated as Zelgadis took a drink from his coffee.  
  
Two things then happened at once. Lina leapt to her feet and knocked the coffee cup out of Zelgadis's hands just as he spat out the mouthful of coffee and threw two glowing bands of energy through the air trhat warapped around the waitress's hands and ankles. The waitress fell to the ground.  
  
"Eee!" she cried as Lina and Zelgadis crossed the room to flank her on both sides.  
  
The Maitre'de came to the girl's rescue. "You will not harrass my..." he paused as he looked at the girl. "Hey! I don't know you!"  
  
"Poison doesn't work on me." Zelgadis told the pseudo-waitress grimly.  
  
"I'll try a knife next time." the waitress replied venomously then turned a spunky smile on Lina. "Hello, Lina my love! Did you miss me? I saw that your air-head bodyguard ditched you for the raven haired girl."  
  
Lina scowled down at the would-be poisoner. "You don't give up, do you Black Fox? You didn't try to poison Gourry last time we met."  
  
"That's because Gourry was never a serious threat to my suit." The waitress levered herself up. "This guy, however..."  
  
Zelgadis looked incredulously to Lina. "This is Black Fox? I heard he was a man!"  
  
"I am!" Black Fox retorted. "I am also a Master of Disguise." 


	3. Run! Xel's got a Kid?

Chaos ensued after that statement and it took the combined efforts of Lina, Zelgadis, and Lina's money pouch to sooth things. With the Restaurant owner safely paid off into silence, Lina and Zelgadis hauled Black Fox back to their inn.  
  
For the most part, Black Fox was very tolerant of the treatment he received. In fact it wasn't until Lina informed Zelgadis that they would have to share a room that he even reacted. (all the other inn rooms were full up, coincedence, ne?)  
  
"You are not sleeping in the same room with her." Black Fox informed Zel from his precarious position thrown over Zelgadis's shoulder. "I will kill you first."  
  
Zelgadis ignored him. Instead he turned to face Lina, who was fumbling with the locked door to the inn room. "How do you know this person?" he asked in a dangerously calm voice.  
  
"Gourry and I were hired to reecover an artifact from him once...." she started.  
  
"The Crystal Goddess." Black fox supplied helpfully. "One night when she and the blonde were chasing me, I happened to get a good look at her beauty in the pure moonlight." he sighed. "It was love at first sight!"  
  
Lina made an unflattering noise in the back of her throat. "He fooled me by throwing a fake crystal Goddess at a wall and I flew to catch it... landed in a pile of garbage." she shot an angry look at Back fox who just batted his eyes back at her.  
  
"Yes... you were covered in it, weren't you?" he mused and sighed romantically. "but then, you said it yourself, you're attractive no matter what you wear are you not?" his eyes (disturbing to see in a woman's face) carressed her leisurely. "Espcecially in that fetching new out fit of yours, have I complimented you on it yet?"  
  
Lina got the door open and while entering Zelgadis unintentionally banged Black Fox's head on the door frame (an accident, I'm sure).  
  
Lina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let him down, Zel. There's not much more damage he can do."  
  
Zelgadis snorted, obviously of another opinion, but set Black Fox down and dispelled the bonds at his wrists and ankles nonetheless. Black Fox immediatly sat up and turned into a tall man (about Gourry's height) in a green body suit with a long black ponytail that reached his ankles. He had an odd sort of mask over his eyes that didn't really disguise anything but made for an interesting accent to his face.  
  
Lina made a strangled noise. "You had better not be Xellos playing another sick prank!" she threatened but relaxed at the soft bamph of displaced air behind her.  
  
"Dost thou speaketh my name in vain?" the Mazoku in question asked.  
  
"Speak of the devil..." Zelgadis groused but trailed off as he witnessed the uneasy expression that spread across Xellos's face as he laid eyes on Black Fox and the ferocious one that flashed across the Master Thief's upon seeing the Mazoku.  
  
"Hello, Xenos..." Xellos said slowly. "I didn't know you were in town."  
  
"Of course you wouldn't." Black Fox,or apparently Xenos, replied in a tight voice. "You never did have much time or attention to spare, Dad."  
  
Lina and Zelgadis exchanged helpless glances.  
  
"You know that being a General/Priest for the last Dark Lord isn't exactly a job with a lot of free hours..." Xellos said in what his two companions fervently assured themselves wasn't a sulky tone. "and this really isn't the time or place to air out old laundry. Ne, Lina-chan... where exactly did you meet up with -him-?"  
  
Lina opened her mouth to answer but Xenos interuppted her. "I'll thank you to stop being so familiar with my fiance!"  
  
The shade of red Lina turned was nothing compared to the one Zelgadis managed. He grabbed Xenos by the collar and hauled him eye to eye. "Since when was she your fiance?" he growled.  
  
"Do you really think she'd say no?" Xenos purred, not resisting the furious chimera one iota.  
  
"I think if you asked her she'd tell you to take a long walk in a plasma dragon's stomach." Zelgadis said through gritted teeth. His grip on Xenos's collar tightened. "In fact, the moment she says so, I'd be happy to assist you on your way there!"  
  
Xenos glanced over Zelgadis's shoulder. "Is that so, Lina my darling?"  
  
"Go take a long walk in a plasma dragon's stomach." Lina said coldly, with her arms crossed over her chest. "Sic'im Zel."  
  
Zelgadis smiled down at Xenos and it was the sort of smile that inspired nightmares. "With pleasure!"  
  
"Ah, perhaps Xenos and I need to be elsewhere." Xellos mused outloud. "In fact, I think it would be most healthy for both of us to be as far away as possible."  
  
The Gereal Priest snapped his fingers (quite a feat considering he was wearing gloves) and Xenos disappeared out of Zelgadis's grip. "TTFN, ta-ta for now!" he said cheerily to Lina before vanishing himself.  
  
"Good riddance." Zelgadis said with feeling.  
  
Lina shook her head and sat down on the bed, Zelgadis followed suit and took his place in the chair before the small vanity the inn room sported.  
  
"This has been one hell of a day." She said after a while and Zelgadis nodded.  
  
"It has." he agreed. "Of all the people to come across; Xellos's son."  
  
"I'm surpsied he got here so fast." Lina mused. "Actually, I'm surpsied Aiden sent him a message at all."  
  
Zelgadis's brows drew down. "Pardon?"  
  
Lina flsuhed. "Oh, um... Aiden is the Thieves Guild member I talked to to get your sword back. I told him that if he couldn't get it back then he was going to contact Black Fox in Dimston for me. As you can see, we have Astral Vine back so there wasn't really a need."  
  
"Lina." Zelgadis said darkly. "There's no way he could have gotten a message through to Dimston and then travelled all the way here in one afternoon."  
  
Lina chuckled. "That's what you think. It is -entirely- possible for the Thieves Guild. I've heard they have a contact crystal matrix set up that encompasses the entire continent."  
  
"A -what-?" Zelgadis asked.  
  
"A crystal matrix is a communications network. Small crystals are ensorcelled to pick up or emit signals that are relayed by other larger crystals. If we had one of those small crystals with us here right now, we could conceivably hear everything going on in the entire Theives Guild." Lina explained. "A typical Thieves Guildhouse has at least one person monitoring the reciever/transmittor crystal at all times so that they are up to date on what's going on with the rest of the guild." she looked wicked. "Of course, no one but a member of the Thieves Guild should know about the Crystal Matrix so don't go blabbing around that I know. It's supposedly this great kept secret."  
  
(Think of a Crystal matrix like a trucker's short wave radio)  
  
"Then how do you know about it?" Zelgadis asked Lina skeptically and was rewarded by one of her mischievous giggles.  
  
"Oh, I knew an old Guild Master once long ago. He decided that someone who got into as much trouble as I do should have as much esoteric knowledge as possible." she shrugged. "But you're right, though. Aiden had no reason to contact Black Fox." she looked thoughtful. "Hmmm. Perhaps next time I see him, we should have something of a talk."  
  
"Not alone, you aren't." Zelgadis muttered and Lina laughed at him.  
  
"I should have been able to guess that Black Fox was related to Xellos just by the way you took to him." she chuckled. "you have a sixth sense concerning Xellos."  
  
"Bite your tongue." Zelgadis snapped. "I am connected in no way to that... that... Fruitcake!"  
  
This of course only made Lina laugh harder.  
  
***  
  
Notebook Entry # 1  
  
Date : The Third day of the Seventh week, Blue month, Year of the Sphinx  
  
Moon phase : Waning, past-full  
  
I am Zelgadis Greywords, supposed Shaman 1st rank and now informal apprentice to Lina Inverse.  
  
Under my 'Master's' instruction, I have begun to make regular recordings in this book that is supposed to act as a combined referance-book, journal, and progress chart. Lina (my 'Master') is keeping one of her own that she records her impressions of me and my progress in.  
  
I must admit, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do in this 'personal journal' section, I have already recorded the lesson Lina has imparted unto me thus far. (see Invokation Charts #1-5, sec. 3 pg 1 and 5 Elemental Summ. Outline, sec. 2 pg. 1-2) I know that Lina puts great store by her own, although it is death to read it. Truly, I have no wish to leave -any- record of myself as I am now. I suffered a grievous injury at the hands of my grandfather that has disfigured me so badly that my face strikes disgust into all who look at me... well, most everyone. Lina says that look, quote, 'cool', but then Lina is not most people. Far from it, to be precise.  
  
I search for a cure for my disfigurment; to become a normal human being again. That is my mission in life and thus why I have subjected myself to the humiliation of re-learning the craft that I had supposedly 'mastered' years ago. The man who made me into the hideous creature I am today also taught me my magic... or at least what magic I know. It seems Grandfather has done me one last ill-turn-- from beyond the grave, even.   
  
Lina is an... interesting person to learn from. Heretofore I have known her as only a sometimes travel companion and battle mate, of course just that has been enough to win her my eternal respect... if not more. Now I find mself face to face with the teacher in her, whose existance I had suspected before now, but the reality is far more that I had ever expected. Lina has always been prone to launching into a lecture at the drop of a pin (or going into her 'Professor Dramatta' mode as the others and myself fondly call her at those times)  
  
I had never realized before, though, how much she enjoys teaching or how very good she is at doing so. I strongly suspect now, that once she tires of her adventuring and treasue hunting that she will settle down to a life of terrorizing poor Sorcery students.  
  
That makes me wonder what -I- will be doing when I become tired of this lifestyle...   
  
Oh wonderful, now I am becoming depressed again and Lina will notice (if she happens to look up from her breakfast, which is unlikely) When she does I shall find myself eating Fireball again. Sometimes having skin made of stone is a benefit. In fact it may be a requisite to living a happy (healthy) life with her.  
  
It has been a few days since our disatrous meeting in Canturbury and I have never been so glad to put a place behind me as that town before. There has been little sign of The Damned Fruitcake or his Lecherous Son and for that I am grateful. I have never considered myself a jealous man, but something about Xenos (aka Black Fox) strikes me the wrong way, especially when he begins making moves on Lina.  
  
This is pure foolishness, a mere three months ago I was ready to stand aside and let Lina run straight into Gourry's arms. Hell's Fire, I was ready let her knock me down while she did so... but then Gourry finally remembered to propose to Sylphiel and Lina was just so... so... calm about it! She was actually HAPPY for them! I was so deeply in shock at the time that I barely even reacted when Gourry tried to make me Sylphiel's 'Bride's Boy'.  
  
Now that Xenos, who is admittedly an attractive specimen of the male gender, appears on the horizon I'm ready the rip him apart. What is the difference between letting Gourry have Lina and letting Xenos have Lina?  
  
Oh wait, suddenly it makes sense. Lina liked Gourry, being with him made her happy. He is a good man who would have done his best to make her content and keep her safe.  
  
Xenos, on the other hand is a dirty, rotten, half-mazoku thief that she can't stand the sight of. To top it all off he dressed up like a woman to try and poison me and claimed Lina as his fiance without even asking her!  
  
No wonder I hated him on sight!  
  
Strange, merely writing out my thoughts makes them easier to understand. Perhaps this journal serves a purpose after all.  
  
***  
  
The camp-site that night was just outside of a dense forest, one that Lina and Sylphiel refused to enter after dark. Gourry and Zelgadis had been annoyed because they stopped a near noon. If they had kept travelling through the forest they would have reached the town on the other side a little bit after sundown. However, Lina and Syphiel were iuncharacteristically adamant about -not going in-.  
  
Apparently it was a rather infamous forest because of the colorful legends centering around it-- the bloody kind of legends. There were also old tales of a tribe of warriors cursed by the gods to spend the rest of eternity as ravening beasts. In and of itself, the stories weren't enough to scare a seasoned adventurer such as Lina but she had heard rumors of slaughtered livestock and the occasional missing children in the farms surrounding the forest. The last time she'd gone to a Bounty Hunter's Guild office, there had been an unholy amount of money offered for someone to go in and kill whatever lived there. After soem careful asking around she'd discovered that seven groups had already disappeared in that forest.  
  
Lina was wisely leery of it, considering her life so far, and when Sylphiel had quietly mentioned to Gourry that she sensed something evil inside the forest that cinched it. They'd camp at the edge, or at least well away from the edge, that night and then go around the next day.  
  
Lina and Sylphiel were detailed to collect firewood while Gourry and Zelgadis pitched camp.  
  
"I really don't like that forest, Lina-sama." Sylphiel said quietly as Lina dumped another load of dry kindling into her arms.  
  
"Neither do I, Syl. You just stand there, hold the wood, and keep every sense tuned in case something comes out at us." Lina replied quietly. "Black mages may not be able to sense 'evil' per se, but I've spent my life learning how to tap into the energy of mazoku and various monsters. I know when one's around."  
  
"As do I." Sylphieal agreed. "There is something, or many somethings in that forest."  
  
"As long as it or they stay in that forest and out of my face they may live a long and happy life." Lina raid ruthlessly and gathered up another armload of wood.  
  
"You do know the likelyhood of that happening is very slender, don't you Lina-sama?" Sylphiel suggested cautiously.  
  
The petite sorceress stood up straight with a sigh, her arms were now full of kindling. "Unfortunately, yes. Still, I'm not going to go looking for trouble today. Enough of it finds me without any help. Chaos, I'm tired of being the only hero around."  
  
"There are other heroes around still." Sylphiel consoled her as they headed back for the camp. She cast a glance over her shoulder as she felt something stire just beyond the shadows at the edge of the woods. "We had best take watches tonight and erect wards around the camp. Something knows we are here."  
  
Lina turned around and blew a raspberry at the forest. "Here's a hot tip!" she yelled. "Bug somebody else and you'll live longer!"  
  
Sylphiel gasped as she felt the presence retreat at a fast pace. "It's leaving... it could be going for reinforcements..."  
  
"Back to the camp, Syl-chan!" Lina decided. "Post haste!" 


End file.
